Damn...Its a shame how much this board has slowly died since the Kid's "retirement." He deserves a lot of credit for making it what it was for such a long stretch of time.

Its hard to tell where things are after just one week, but 5-2 isn't a bad start for the ODAC. However, HSC aside, it doesn't look like anybody else looked spectacular. BC's win doesn't look that impressive, unless St. Vincent has really become that good of a team that quickly. Everybody else played close games versus familiar opponents, except W&L, whose boxscore looks really unimpressive. I don't know how good the Dips are right now, but giving up 29 points in the first half and not scoring until the 4th quarter makes the Generals look pretty bad.

I hope the board picks up with some good banter, and hopefully a good year for ODAC fans and its teams.

Extremely quiet from the BC folks. Makes me think all of those Eagles fans were nothing but aliases for the kid.

Need some talk in here that isn't between RMC and HSC.

I saw the Catholic loss to Shenandoah last week, and it definitely looks like a rebuilding year. The roster is very young, and there isn't a lot of experience after last season's senior laden team. The last four years you could count on Keith Ricca and a group of nice receivers putting up big offensive numbers, even if the team didn't play well. This year's squad will definitely have a hard time on offense. Dylan Knight, who played defensive back last year as a freshman, started at quarterback, but junior Matt Cantafio got playing time as well. It looks like Knight is the runner and Cantafio the passer. Both guys didn't play badly, but neither looks to have star power. Part of the problem for them might also be that there isn't any other potential break-out players on offense either. Catholic has had a potent passing offense ever since Tom Clark first came to DC back in the mid 90's, but this group of receivers just doesn't look that talented. I hope a couple of them step up and prove me wrong, but I just don't see it.

Defensively Catholic played decently as well, but they seem to lack what the offense does as well...a big time playmaker. I saw a good team effort, but not anybdoy that an opposing team should fear. The competition against Shenandoah was more equal than the 21-3 score indicates. Catholic played sloppy, giving up three fumbles and an interception, while recording no takeaways from Shenandoah. The one big mistake that Shenandoah made should have been a pick-6, but was droppd by a CUA defender. Catholic also had 9 penalties for 75 yards, which further hurt them against the Hornets. Catholic had some very nice returns off of punts and kickoffs, but penalties brought several of them back.

Overall it wasn't a horrible display by Catholic, but my expectations have been lowered a bit. It will be interesting to see how this week's SU-BC and CUA-F&M games turn out, since Catholic will then have common opponents with two other ODAC squads after just two weeks.

I saw the requests for a Pick 'Em page this year, so I went ahead and started a new page for the ODAC in 2009. I can't guarantee camerakid quality, but I'll try to keep up with it. Less than 36 hours to get your picks in!

To add to the quality of the ODAC debate, do people think the conference is better as it is now(2006-2008) with parity among most teams, or from 2001-2005 when Bridgewater was dominant.
My thought is those following D3 would probably give the ODAC of a few years ago more respect based on just the success of Bridgewater, but that only takes into acount the talent and performance of one team. Obviously no team in the ODAC right now can compare to BC's teams during that time, but is the level of play and talent better now than it was 5 years ago?
Did BC fall that far from where they had risen to, or have the other programs just raised their game that much?

After last year and looking ahead to 2009, I wouldn't have had much of a clue when it came to ranking the ODAC this preseason. It looks like there wasn't much consensus with the coaches either after viewing that poll. Four teams out of 7 received first place votes, with no team garnering more than 2. That seems pretty balanced to me.
HSC leading the poll makes sense to me since they have been the most consistently good team in the conference lately. I'm not sure what to make of BC after the last few years, but it shouldn't surprise anybody if they bounce back. Guilford and W&L would have been the two to round out the bottom for me, but the competition should be very good in the ODAC this year.

It was nice to be able to watch the video of the Catholic-Emory and Henry game today. Thanks ODAC!

Catholic earns another win and has 2 more to go in order to clinch a playoff berth. Keith Ricca has really been amazing this year. He had 5 TDs today and no interceptions. He has always been capable of big plays, but his ability to limit mistakes this season has been a huge progression.

Emory and Henry looked good on offense, but were extremely prone to mistakes. Caleb Jennings was fun to watch. He racked up 357 all purpose yards. EHC's radio guys stated at the end of the game that he was unarguably the best player in the conference. Well the quarterback who threw for over 300 yards against you today is pretty good, as well as Simpson and Sitterson. However, with all 3 of those guys moving on after this season, Jennings may very well be the star of the ODAC for the next few years.

What are the Tigers chances of a pool C at 9 and 1 assuming the water doesn't get too muddy with upsets in other conferences? I assume Huntington would be in at 10 and 0 but what about them or LaGrange at 9 and 1?

Time for the playoff experts to bring out their knowledge. Since the SLIAC doesn't get an automatic bid, wouldn't LaGrange and Huntington both be eligible for Pool B slots rather than Pool C slots? I could be wrong, but neither of those teams should take a playoff spot from HSC, unless the NCAA makes a decision to reward a Pool C from another region than the South.

If Catholic and HSC win out, then the Tigers would have just one loss to another playoff team. With HSC's recent history of success, although they haven't done anything in the playoffs, I would think they would merit a lot of consideration. However, like you mentioned in your post there is still a lot of sorting out in the ODAC and other conferences as well.

2008 ODAC Football Standings
 
                              GP Record Win% PF PA  GP Record Win % PF PA
Hampden-Sydney   5    4-1   0.800 149 110  8  7-1      0.875 249 179
Catholic                   3    2-1   0.667 101 82    7 6-1      0.857 215 129
Emory & Henry        3    2-1   0.500 24 27      6 3-3      0.500 106 86
Bridgewater            3    1-2   0.500 61 57      6 2-4      0.333 132 135
Guilford                   3    1-2   0.333 68 89      7 4-3      0.571 195 196
Randolph-Macon     3    1-2   0.333 58 72      7 3-4      0.429 153 178
Washington & Lee 4     1-3   0.250 113 137  8 4-4      0.500 203 224

Current standing from ODACOnline.com

Had to adjust E&H and BC's records on my own, so their winning percentage and point differentials aren't right.

Looks like Catholic controls things down the stretch with 3 conference games to go. HSC has just one loss as well, but Catholic will have the tie breaker. The Tigers will have to win at Macon and hope for a Catholic loss in order to take the conference.

Emory and Henry has just one loss as well, with a matchup against Catholic next week. Their overall record doesn't look good, but they are playing pretty decently in conference. They would need to win their next 3 games and hope for a HSC loss to Macon in week 11.

Quick Week 3 Summary

Randolph Macon finally wins the game. Hampden Sydney and Catholic are both 3-0. Guilford falls for the first time. Bridgewater and Emory and Henry are still rebuilding.

Saw Catholic and McDaniel, and its hard to take much from that game. The 31-7 score was impressive, but Catholic wasn't great. They weren't consistent with the run, and the receivers dropped a lot of balls. However, McDaniel just isn't that talented of a team, and Catholic was able to make some big plays.

Ricca did a good job of controlling the ball, and Catholic's only turnover was an interception on a heave right before the half. If Catholic improves a few things with their offense and continues to keep their turnovers down, they should be a good team. They are certainly capable of being better, and should have put up a few more TDs against McDaniel today. Against better teams they will need to improve on the small things.

Saw the Catholic game today and it was good to see the Cards head to 2-0. F&M started the game out well rushing, but had no big play threats. They found some success later on passing over the middle, because Catholic's linebackers didn't look great in coverage. The Dips ended up with more total yards in the game, but missed out on some opportunities. They missed two field goals and had a dropped pass in the endzone. F&M played hard but didn't seem like the better overall team.

Keith Ricca played a lot better for the Cards than his statistics show. Catholic wide receivers dropped a number of balls, and he should have had much better numbers. I was impressed with how Ricca ran the game when Catholic was up in the 4th quarter. He controlled the team and really helped Catholic run out the clock.

Greg Brown did great at running back for Catholic. I did a bit of research, and his 125 yards rushing was just the 3rd individual 100 yard game for a Catholic player since 2004. Catholic has been inept running the ball for years, and it was great to see him have a breakout game. Brown has been in the program since 2004, and has had trouble with injuries most of his career. The only season he played 10 games, he had 1143 all purpose yards in 2005, and in his freshman year in 2004 he led the Cards with 11 tackles for loss in just 6 games. Brown has talent, and its great to see him healthy and being put to good use.

Defensively Catholic had a great pass rush. They sacked F&M's quarterback 4 times and caused a lot of pressure whenever he dropped straight back. Dave Woo stood out with 3 TFLs and a PBU. Freshman T.J. Cooney is a lanky looking kid at DE, but he played well for a player seeing his first action. Catholic's secondary was also very impressive. Nick Oliveiro doesn't make mistakes at safety, and is a great leader on the field. I was also very impressed with Dylan O'Shea, who doesn't look like much physically, but did well in supporting the run defense, while playing well in coverage also.

Good win for Catholic, and I'll always take 2-0 however it comes.

Time for the breakdown after week 2.
Guilford is playing right now, but Catholic, Hampden Sydney, and W&L win.
Bridgewater, Emory and Henry, and RMC each lose.

So after a 5-2 start last week, the ODAC right now is 3-3 in week 2 with Guilford's fate still up in the air. Looks like Guilford is down 12-7 to Methodist in the 2nd right now.

Hampden Sydney and Catholic start the year 2-0. I wasn't expecting Hampden Sydney to play such a close game against Gettysburg, but its a good sign for the Tigers that they still put up 45.

Catholic has now beat F&M and Shenandoah, who both won their other games against ODAC foes. So while Catholic has won each of their two games by just a touchdown, and without scoring a lot of points, they have done it with against teams that BC and W&L couldn't handle.

W&L is now 1-1 after beating Sewanee. Still don't know what to make of the Generals since what I heard about their game against F&M was that the playing situation was a complete mess thanks to Hanna, and I'm not sure how good Sewanee is.

BC's loss to Shenandoah is truly surprising after their big win last week. From the stats it looks like BC was outplayed with a -2 turnover ratio and less than 200 total yards of offense. Averett didn't play this weekend, so it remains to be seen how good of a team they will be.

After beating Ferrum in a close game last weekend, the Wasps lost to Greensboro by two today. E&H's numbers from the boxscore look pretty pathetic today. They averaged just 1.9 yards per play all day. Surprising they scored any points with those numbers. Definitely less impressed with Emory and Henry than I was after week 1.

RMC drops to 0-2, but they did take usually decent Hopkins team to triple overtime. The Jackets had 4 turnovers this week, which is not the type of thing they did when they surprised people last season. RMC still looks potentially dangerous, but not like a solid pick from week to week.

So there are still a lot of questions in the ODAC, which will make conference play very interesting. Hampden Sydney still looks like the favorite, with Catholic being a positive surprise and RMC a disappointment.

Not too much action early in the afternoon, but things are looking interesting already.
BC seems to have come out firing, and the score doesn't reflect a young, inexperienced team.
EHC had a solid win against a team that is usually fairly competitive, so maybe they might not be in the cellar in the ODAC.

On the down side for the conference, W&L was shutout by F&M, and only managed 51 total yards of offense. I'm assuming the game was played in Hanna's rain, but F&M managed almost 200 yards. Thats not a good first showing at all for the Generals.

RMC also lost in a blowout...to a team that was just 1-9 last season. The score was Kings 34-RMC 13. RMC was -4 in turnovers on the day, which would explain any 21 point loss.

Right now Catholic is tied with Shenandoah in the 4th, and Guilford is up and looking convincing against Greensboro. Looks like a lot of ups and downs for the ODAC on opening day.

And I don't know if anybody else has said it yet, but the ODAC board seems like its on life support with the kid moving on. I have to give him credit for helping keep this place interesting for the last 8 or 9 years or however long he has been posting constantly.

Tough losses for BC. They were going to have a hard enough time replacing all the talent they lost last season, and this certainly won't help. BC is looking as vulnerable as they have this decade.

WillieRobin...where did you hear about the 110 in camp for Catholic? Catholic usually doesn't post their roster until the week before Game 1, so I assume you've got the inside info. I'd appreciate it if you had any information on any scrimmages coming up as well.

W&L is putting in field turf? Thats a shame...they had an amazing grass field.
It will be fun one day to tell my kids that I played football on grass. They won't believe it!

I won't make my own picks right now, but I'll comment on Tigerfanalso's...

1) HSC - Drew Smith's won't be easily replaced, but I presume Josh Simpson is coming back. He clicks in Marty's offense, and I'm sure the Tigers will find some more offensive contributors. HSC should be contenders again.
2) Bridgewater - Lost their three main playmakers in Highfill, Carter, and Copeland. Their defense will be tough like always, but I have doubts that they will score points when it matters. I won't be surprised by a few losses.
3) W&L - Jack Martin's graduation means they lost their main big play threat. However, Stuart Sitterson is a threat to score any time he touches the ball, whether out of the backfield, in the passing game, or with returns. Their defense wasn't as stellar last season as in year's past, but they always seem to win tight games. Probably middle of the pack this year.
4) RMC - Lost a couple of players to graduation from their defense, which was excellent last season. However, their offense remains intact, and Pedro's young Yellowjackets have finally matured. I don't think they were a fluke, and should be competitive again.
5) Guilford - Same old story. Guilford will score a lot of points, but give up even more. Vogelbach will break records, but I don't count on the Quakers necessarily being a winning team.
6) CU - Same old story for Catholic also. Will pass the ball a lot...sometimes well, sometimes not. The running game has not been seen since sometime around 2001, and I don't know if this will be the year it reemerges. Lost just a few players last season and they will have a lot of talented seniors. Should improve again this season, but I don't see them near the top.
7) E&H - I don't know what to think. Montgomery comes from a great coaching background, and last season's poor finish certainly wasn't expected. I don't see them rising to the top, but could finish anywhere else in my mind.